A group of primary-aged learners sitting at a table, working together on something. The photo is taken from above. The learners are of different genders and ethnic backgrounds.

Making group discussions come to life in the language classroom

About the webinar

When I was a first started teaching English, I would often plan exciting group discussion activities for my students only to see them fall flat in the classroom. I would often ask myself what went wrong. Was it the activity? The students? Or me? With time, I managed to find the answers I was looking for which I share in this session.

In this webinar, you'll discover why group discussions sometimes fail to engage learners in the language classroom (face to face/online) and practical solutions to make them work better. You'll also see how group discussions can be much more than just a ‘fluency-building activity’ by identifying a range of language points/areas to focus on. Then you'll look at ways to ensure balanced participation from all group members as opposed to letting the stronger and more motivated students dominate the discussion.

Recorded on 10 February 2022

Watch 'Making group discussions come to life in the language classroom'

About the speaker

Shivani Gupta has a Diploma in Teaching English to speakers of Other Languages (DELTA) and a Certificate in Teaching English to speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) from the University of Cambridge.

Having worked as a teacher with the British Council for nearly six years, she has taught a variety of courses, including General English, Spoken English, Business English, IELTS Preparation courses to students at varying levels  in a range of learning contexts. She has also developed course content for two 36-hour Spoken English B1 modules and an 18-hour YL course, currently used at British Council, India.

In addition, she has delivered In-Service training for newly qualified and experienced British Council teachers on topics such as Teaching Group Discussions, Using the Interactive White Board Effectively, Understanding IELTS Band Descriptors, Teaching Functional Language, Using ZOOM effectively etc. and facilitated IELTS Master Training for over 200 teachers from different parts of India and Afghanistan.

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hello, I consider the contributions of this topic very good, I have managed to generate new ideas for my class.

Hello,

I think the contributions of the topic is excellent. I also would like to use some ideas in my class

Thank you so much.

It was very nice lecture thanks.

Very useful! Thanks!

Thank you! Lots of great ideas to get learners talking. I will definitely use them in my lessons.