You know that moment when you assign a speaking activity and your students look at each other like “Again? With YOU?”
Yeah. That moment.
They’ve been paired up with the same classmates for weeks (months?), and the spark is gone. They know each other’s stories. They’ve heard each other’s opinions on everything from weekend plans to climate change. They’re going through the motions, but nobody’s really engaged anymore.
So here’s what I started doing: I started sending them to talk to strangers.
Well…not actual strangers, I mean students from other classes. It’s simple, it’s free, and it completely changes the energy in the room. These conversational visits became one of my favorite teaching strategies.
Wait, back up…what the heck ARE conversational visits? They are when one or more of your students visits another classroom to practice speaking in English with another teacher’s students for a specific speaking activity. You can freshen up just about any speaking activity when you bring in students from a similar level in another class.
Why merge two classes for a speaking activity?
Really, why not? Who doesn’t like something new and different happening when you’re feeling like class has become predictable and stale?
Reason #1: Conversational visits get them out of their comfort zone while keeping them safe.
One of the biggest benefits of conversational visits is that your students get to practice English in a controlled, safe environment but with someone who isn’t a classmate.
If you’ve had the same set of students for weeks or months, they’ve already gotten to know each other well enough that they’ve lost that spark of interest you get when talking with someone new. The conversation feels more like homework instead of communication.
Bringing in fresh faces changes that immediately.
Now, some students find this terrifying. When you know or suspect that might be an issue, have your students pair up when talking with someone unknown so they have the comfort of a familiar partner. Problem solved.
Getting them out of the classroom entirely
Another option? Take them completely out of the classroom environment.
One language school where I worked was next to a university’s student center. My students LOVED being sent there to interview “real” university students.
Before I sent anyone, we discussed as a class how to approach someone and request their time. I didn’t want my students to feel rejected by anyone who was busy and mistake that for anti-foreigner sentiment. Yes, that happened, and yes, anti-foreigner attitudes certainly can crop up.
Have your students say something like this:
“Excuse me. I’m an international student. My teacher gave me a speaking assignment. Do you have a few minutes to answer some questions?”
This quickly weeds out those who are busy AND those who are close-minded.
Reason #2: Conversational visits expose them to opinions, thoughts, and ideas they’ve never heard before.
One of my classes was made up entirely of Saudi students. Not only did this make using English a bigger challenge for them, it meant that many speaking activities had no relevancy. All those questions like “How do people in your culture…” or “What do people from your country…” served only one purpose: speaking practice.
The true value of such speaking activities, however, lies in discovering what people from other cultures and countries do and think. Plus, when you don’t know the answer, you’re more likely to listen to it.
When I brought them to another class (different level) with students from six different countries, my Saudi students became eager to complete the speaking activity and then ask their own questions. I nearly had to drag them out of the room when the time was up!
Reason #3: Conversational visits are perfect for those high-achievers who always finish first. (and then sit there bored)
Tell me your students always finish every activity simultaneously, and I’ll pinch you because you are DREAMING!
Don’t worry. It’s not you. It’s not me. We all have those students, and coming up with something for them to do can be a challenge. I mean, sure, if they need to work on grammar, you can let them choose something from your task card library. But what if they need (or want) to work on speaking and listening?
On the one hand, you need to spend time helping students who need more support.
On the third hand, by not giving those early finishers your time, you’re almost punishing them for not needing help. This is why it’s helpful to make connections with the teachers in the classrooms near you.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say Raul is already done, but you think most of the other students will need at least 10-15 minutes more. You don’t want him to just sit there, and you also don’t want to ask him to help his classmates because that’s what he usually ends up doing.
What if you could just pop your head into the classroom next door (or send a quick text) and ask if that teacher has a student Raul could speak with?
Give Raul a pre-made handout to use or have him quickly write a few questions of his own using a recently studied theme or concept, and then either he can walk next door or the other student can come to your classroom. They can have short conversational visits while waiting for their respective classmates to be ready for the next activity or lesson.
They will love this.
Ready to set this up? Here’s what you need to know first.
Conversational visits ARE simple, but there are a couple of things to sort out before you send your students wandering into someone else’s classroom. Besides having something to talk about.
Prepare your students before they leave your classroom.
The first time I brought one of my classes to visit another was a complete disaster!
My students were prepared with the speaking activity questions they were to ask, but being beginners, they didn’t know how to approach the other students to get started. Sure, they would have been fine doing this in their primary language. Knowing that they had to use English resulted in most of them completely freezing up.
So, before heading out, remind your students to introduce themselves with their names, ask for the other students’ names, and thank them at the end. Have them practice this part with a classmate. Also, have them rehearse questions like the following:
- Could you repeat that please?
- How do you spell that?
Make sure the students of the other class are ready.
Setting up a start and finish time with another teacher willing to accommodate visitors is an absolute MUST. Don’t just show up at a co-worker’s door with your students and expect to be welcomed in.
But it’s not just about setting up a time.
I’ll never forget that time my students had prepared a bunch of fun conditional questions that they were gleefully looking forward to asking another class. They were visiting a class of students two levels above them, so I was sure those students would be able to give interesting and funny answers.
I could not have been more wrong.
It was quite the disaster! The students we visited had either never learned or had forgotten how to answer using conditionals. The looks on my students’ faces as they heard error after error made me create a quick fake excuse to bustle them out of there.
After that, I made sure to let the teacher of the other class know the topic or concept in advance so they could do a quick, informal assessment and see if the students would be able to answer questions competently. Sometimes they would just need a short review, and we were all good to go. Other times, the teacher would let me know that it wasn’t going to be a good fit, and I’d either pick another class or another activity.
I did not want to cause any class embarrassment. Neither did my students.
The Bottom Line
Conversational visits are an easy way to breathe new life into a speaking activity. They might take up a quick ten-minute slice out of a class, or if the theme or concept is recent for both classes and the conversations really flow, you might find your students begging for more time than what was allotted.
Either way, your students get to practice English with someone new, and that changes everything.
That’s it from me. See you in the next post!
P.S. Conversational visits don’t have to involve your entire class. Read more on how I used them to lessen the proficiency gaps of individual students.
