Discussion Strategies

Overview

The activities in this book follow and build upon the strategic conversation skills of the Kehes’ book, Conversation Strategies. Discussion Strategies develops discussion skills at high levels of communicative interaction, especially communication in academic settings. Students, in step-by-step procedures, are given extensive practice in a variety of strategies for leading and participating in a discussion.

Discussion Strategies provides focused practice with the following discussion techniques: using rejoinders, asking follow-up questions, seeking and giving clarification, using comprehension checks, answering with details, soliciting more details from others, interrupting others during a discussion, recounting something they have heard, volunteering an answer, helping the leader of a discussion, expressing an opinion, referring to a source when giving an opinion, and leading a discussion.

Each unit builds on and recycles the previous units. The first twenty-eight units provide controlled practice of the discussion and are for pair groups or triads. Units 29-38 give the students an opportunity to use their new strategies in less structured discussions; they involve large groups or the whole class in open discussion of the articles provided.

Author Biography

David Keheand Peggy Dustin Kehe, authors of Discussion Strategies, have co-written eight textbooks with Pro Lingua Learning. They have been ESL teachers for over 35 years in the U.S., Japan, and Greece and with the Peace Corps in Niger. They both have a Master of Arts in TESOL from the School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro, Vermont. Currently, David is Faculty Emeritus at Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, WA, and Peggy is retired from teaching. David also writes a blog about teaching ESL called "Common Sense Teaching ESL."