Conversation Strategies

Conversation strategies are techniques that help the speaker and listener keep a conversation going to its natural and desired conclusion. These skills supplement the linguistic and sociolinguistic skills most texts focus on: grammar, vocabulary, and usage. However, to develop strategic competence, students must learn the words, phrases, and conventions used as two speakers engage in the active give-and-take of conversation. The strategies practiced in this book include 1) getting more information, 2) making comparisons, 3) correcting someone politely, 4) agreeing and disagreeing, 5) summarizing, 6) sharing information, and 7) making decisions. Students also practice 1) polite forms, 2) rejoinders, 3) clarifications, 4) follow-up questions, 5) getting a response, 6) expressing probability, 7) interrupting, and 8) avoiding conversation killers. The 29 pair and group activities help develop communicative competence. These fun, student-centered activities begin with controlled language and move to open, imaginative exchanges.