49 ESL Conversation Games & Activities - Jackie Bolen 2020

2: Focus on other skills first
Top 5 Tips for teaching low level conversation classes

One of the theories of language learning is that a solid foundation in the more passive skills (listening and reading) comes before the more active production skills (writing and speaking). It's how we learn language as a child; first we listen and then eventually we speak. As we get older, we first learn to read and then we write.

Therefore if students are extremely low level, it can sometimes be unrealistic to focus extensively on speaking if they don't have a solid grasp of reading or listening skills. Even though the class is a “conversation” class, slip in some work on these other skills each class and this will really help students get ready to speak later.

In fact, most of the textbooks in use today introduce the target grammar or vocabulary through a reading or listening exercise. Since it's a “conversation” class, it can be tempting to skip over this and get straight to the speaking part of the lesson, but keep in mind that these things are quite useful for our lower level students for building a solid foundation.

All four skills are intricately connected and can be hard to separate but it's not necessary to do this. The best classes are often those that delicately balance these four skills and so even in “conversation” or “speaking” classes, don't be afraid to include some of the other three skills as well. However, classes should be heavier on the speaking if that is what the students and administration expect. Don't forget to think beyond your class and see language learning as a holistic process that happens over years and decades.

In addition, consider focusing on some functional speaking skills, which in some ways are easier to teach and learn than just general speaking because they are so specific and the language is often quite controlled with a very limited range of variations. For example, work on giving advice with beginners by teaching them how to use maybe you could/should (very polite), should/shouldn't (more polite) and you'd better/you'd better not (less polite). The level of politeness would depend on the context you've chosen to introduce the language.

Another function easily taught to beginners is apologizing. Something like, “I'm (really) sorry, I ... ” is very useful and doesn't require complicated grammar or vocabulary.

Finally, agreeing and disagreeing are also useful and don't involve complicated grammar. Things like: really, me too, I think so too, ummm how about ...?, etc. are within the grasp of most beginners.