By Kate Dexter.
Scenario: You are working with a group of students, home and international. It’s a nice group, and they know the topic. Well, they should do, anyway. They have learnt about it in class and through guided self-study.
They also knew this seminar session was coming; it was clearly listed on Moodle. And they’re sitting in small groups, some with friends, some with their lecture notes and their laptop open in front of them, looking particularly studious.
This is going to work really well…
Question one: ‘What is important about gardening?’
Absolute… almost meditative… silence. You can hear the winter-readying squirrels outside (and possibly even the beetles scuttling underneath the leaves).
Someone has something… you can see it on their face. But they’re resolutely not going to say it.
Why… is nobody talking?
Is this familiar? Even with the best of preparation, sometimes it feels as if no-one wants to participate in the discussion at all. But don’t be disheartened, and, most importantly, assume nothing. Here is some advice from my own experience and others’ greater wisdom handed to me over years of working with international learners. I hope it will be helpful to you.
First of all, what is important about gardening? I’m not sure I know the ‘answer’. I know why it’s important to some people. Whether or not it’s important to the planet, and how, seems to be an ongoing debate. So…
- Consider the questions. Is the question too ‘big’? Is it directive or evaluative? Does it need to be more structured into sub-questions? What kind of answers are you looking for? Or is the answer itself less important than the exercise of exchanging ideas? And… do the students know this? Which leads to…
- Give students the ‘rules’ of participation. How should they answer? In small groups? Should they question each other’s answers? Are you expecting an ‘answer’, a solution or a free discussion? Are they allowed to go ‘off topic’ if their partner says something interesting and unexpected?
- Set the objective.Why are students discussing these questions? What is the end goal? Are they supposed to reach some kind of agreement? What and how will you require them to feed back?
- Define a ‘right’ answer. Some students (and probably most of them, at least at some point) will have come from a background of traditional ‘Tell me the answer’ questioning. They may well be thinking ‘What does the tutor want me to say?’ and the consequences of a ‘wrong’ response will range from embarrassment to admonishment. At school, a ‘wrong’ answer means we weren’t really paying attention… and now everyone can see it. Something I like to preface a question with is ‘I don’t know the answer…’. I think it gives my learners tacit permission to say what they think.
- Teach seminar and group working skills. Don’t assume your learners will have the same (or any) experience of discussion and problem-solving in groups. Don’t assume, either, that they are accustomed to ‘discussing’ a text. At school, and in some educational backgrounds, information is given. So… what’s happening here? Why are we discussing it? And how do we go about this?
- Make it ‘safe’ for students to speak. This can be achieved partially through group work / seminar skills training. Give students the functional language and etiquette knowledge to be able to interrupt politely, to disagree politely, to handle groups of more confident speakers, and to concede or question. Teach them to listen actively – ensure they know that they don’t need to wait until they are called by name, and that they can contribute if English is not their first language. Circulate and monitor without intervention, except to praise students’ contributions.
- Give everyone preparation time. I was taught, by an extremely wise senior colleague, what it was I had been getting wrong in my very quiet classes: when I mentioned that my students wouldn’t speak, I was told to listen to them in their break time. I did, and the noise and energy was truly delightful (and very plentiful!). I was also advised to give them time to prepare and to speak, and (here’s the scary part) to wait two or three times longer before intervening. Yes: a… long… silence. Simply put, students need time to gather their thoughts, courage and language –and then to answer.
- Set structured pre-class tasks. Why not give students the questions before the session? Set clear instructions – notes only, no ‘scripted’ answers or full sentences. Give them time to collect their thoughts and vocabulary so they are ready to respond to a set of ‘manageable’ questions. Tell them what the task and its objectives will be. No scary surprises!
- Help students to generate ideas. As suggested by De Chazal and Rogers (2013), asking learners to think a question or issue through from different perspectives can be extremely helpful. To begin with, work on listing as many potential stakeholders as possible. What would each of these stakeholders think? What would their concerns or priorities be? In our ISLD Academic Discussion Group, I like to set ‘argument’ questions (with great care, so no-one is made to express anything that might compromise their principles), where one student is ‘A’, their partner ‘B’. ‘A’ is set the task of agreeing with a whole set of statements, with ‘B’ having to disagree. Participants seem to enjoy this, as well as complaining (with good humour) about how challenging it is! An example question might be: ‘No-one under 25 should be allowed to use social media: discuss’.
- And finally… once again, assume nothing. If someone isn’t speaking, why is that? They may be extremely conscientious and knowledgeable but still daunted by speaking out, volunteering their own (subjective) ideas or working in a group situation. They may feel like the weakest link in a set of more confident speakers or ‘locals’. Mix up the groups, try putting students in pairs, and perhaps give them chance to submit their ideas in written form, too, at the end of the discussion.
When students feel ‘safe’ to speak (because they understand what is required of them, have had time to prepare thoughts and words, and know how it all works), class discussions can be a really enjoyable experience, with lots of high energy and volume! I hope you enjoy working with your groups!
ISLD (Insessional Support & Language Development) supports students to develop the study and language skills needed for university in the UK. Our ISLD Moodle site (on which students and staff can self-enrol) includes functional language help and advice for speaking in seminars. ISLD also offers workshops on group work, seminar skills and speaking. Contact language-support@yorksj.ac.uk or K.Dexter@yorksj.ac.uk.
References
De Chazal, E. and Rogers, L. (2013) Oxford EAP Intermediate B1+ Student’s Book. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kate Dexter is an International Programmes Tutor and the Insessional Support and Language Development (ISLD) Coordinator at York St John University.