eslconverstionlesson.com a site devoted to collecting and curating speaking activities for English conversation courses. Concentrated on ESL and EFL adults and more specifically English for specific purposes, the pedagogical tools and speaking activities are meant to generate English conversations for specific jobs, goals or language focuses. For daily conversation lesson plans, see our Question of the Day blog.
Most of the material is chosen to fit a researched-based whole language approach that uses first language material in second language teaching. That means you will find questions, news articles, TED talks, video bloggers, podcasts, news broadcasts meant for first language audiences. The material is meant as a "launchpad" or a "priming" tool to get conversations going. Then you can calibrate the difficulty with pre and post activities that will fit the level of your students. On top of a large repository of resources that you can find in to get things going, to practice a grammar point and to practice for a job, every day I post conversation prompts and suggestions in the question of the day.
Although conversation is a spontaneous and unpredictable thing, you may notice that the material is organized according to various language objectives for anyone and everyone. The idea is to use conversation as a method to practice and root vocabulary and grammar (yep those are the building blocks...can't get away without them). I combine this material with different teaching techniques, such as The Tell Back, Questions by Cognitive Skill and Mind Maps, for which you will find explanations on the site.
Conversation is a fascinating part of ESL learning. It is where all the pieces of language come together and are used to communicate...to connect. It is where learners may even forget they are speaking in a foreign language and begin to share genuinely and meaningfully. Essentially, I am sharing all the sites, videos, articles and techniques I use to increase fluency, build vocabulary and ultimately have great conversations.
ESLconversationlesson.com is very young. I'm always looking to know more about what's out there in the ESL community. Have ideas to contribute, good websites, tricks and tips please share them...
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eslconversationlesson.com is a production of neurobox.ca. We offer educational consulting, educational content development, language lessons, resources, and teaching tips. We operate out of Montreal, Canada.