Languages for intercultural communication and education

Participant roles – the relationship between interactants in a conversa-
tion – will therefore determine to some extent what is and is not said in
conversation, and this too should be incorporated into materials design.
Culture and Conversational English
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From ‘Real’ Conversations to Classroom Activities
As we observed above, research insights into the structure and purpose
of conversations, and the distribution of participant roles, do not necessar-
ily directly suggest relevant or useful classroom activities. The insights
offered by researchers can nevertheless be used in a variety of ways in the
intercultural ELT classroom. The remainder of this chapter offers some
practical suggestions as to how interactional speech can be taught, and how
an intercultural approach to teaching conversation can be implemented.
Designing conversational tasks
Conversation, as we have seen, involves a complex set of possible
options. We can obviously break these down into discrete areas for practice
of specific subskills, like opening a conversation or supporting a conversa-
tional partner. Furthermore, we can devise more global tasks that practise
the realisation of different genres of conversation. The activities which
follow suggest ways of practising (1) some of the subskills necessary to
open and sustain a conversation, and (2) some of the global genres of con-
versation commonly used to construct and maintain cultural identity.
The tasks below realise the general components of communicative and
cultural task design outlined in Chapter 2. In addition, I suggest that any
conversational task should make explicit (at least to the teacher) the
following points:
1. Participant roles
Are the speakers friends, colleagues, etc.; are they of equal or different
status?
2. Conversational focus
Are the learners practising a specific subskill, e.g. opening moves or
responding moves in chat, storytelling or gossip; or is the task more global?
3. Cultural purpose
Is the point of the conversation to negotiate the status of the individual in
the group, to determine shared ethical norms, or to invoke group solidarity
by sharing a funny experience, etc?
4. Procedure
How is the task to be achieved, e.g. what are the steps in the role-play or
game? Does the task have a tangible outcome, e.g. does a group decision
have to be made by the end?
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5. Language exponents
Do the learners have the appropriate language to ask questions, make
statements, give opinions, evaluate experience and people, etc.? Do they
command the linguistic resources to ask indirect questions, and make
understated criticisms, if appropriate?
6. Opportunity for reflection
Ideally, some learners’ conversations could be recorded and used to
generate discussion about alternative ways in which the conversation
could have developed. For example, learners can be asked if the conversa-
tion would have been different if the participant roles had been altered.
The tasks suggested below begin with two key subskills, which are
widely applicable to a range of conversational genres, then proceed to
activities focusing on specific conversational genres discussed above,
second-storying and gossip.